Are you driving blind ...?

Every week in Australia, a child is run over in the driveway of their home, yet less than 1% of the vehicles tested this year as part of (NSW) NRMA Insurance's Reversing Visibility Index received the maximum five star rating. The Index, which measures how well a driver can see out the back of a car, revealed that a number of vehicle types, especially family sedans have hazardous reversing blind areas.

Car manufacturers Lexus, Mitsubishi, Toyota, BMW, Ford, Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo and Jeep have all installed reversing cameras in a number of their vehicles in an effort to prevent reversing incidents involving children. Reversing cameras can greatly improve the driver's visibility and we urge car manufacturers to consider the installation of this technology. The Lexus GS430 and the Ford Territory, the only tested vehicles to be awarded the maximum five stars rating, feature enhanced reversing visibility cameras where the rim of the bumper can be easily seen, providing more perspective for the driver.

Increasingly cameras are available in luxury vehicles and 4WD's as a standard fitment, however manufacturers of family sedans are lagging behind. Retro-fitting reversing cameras can result in improved visibility for many cars on our road today. A properly-installed camera could in-fact give the driver the same visibility as a five-star car.

Autospark can help solve this problem on your car, efficiently and cost effectively.

Retro-fitted cameras:
Not all reversing camera technology is the same, so NRMA Insurance makes the following recommendations when considering a reversing camera system for your vehicle. Reversing cameras should:
Have a large field of view and be mounted so that the rear bumper bar is in view.
Be able to operate in low light situations.

Reversing camera displays should:
Be large enough to clearly view obstacles and be visible in both low light and bright conditions.
Be mounted so they are easily viewable when reversing but don't impede normal driving vision.

Autospark has sourced some of the best quality units and have them ready to fit from just $495, and Reverse Parking Sensors fitted from just $300. Why not call us and discuss your requirements and have this 'most logical' device fitted to your vehicle.

The full results of NRMA Insurance's Reversing Visibility Index can be viewed on this PDF document, click here to view.



Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to email or call any of our locations.